Britain's female gymnasts did not match the men's bronze medal in Tuesday's team final. But they still finished the day history makers, bringing to the North Greenwich Arena the same charisma, tenacity and sheer sense of joy that Louis Smith's men had delivered the previous day.

The women ended the all-around final in sixth place, their best Olympic finish since 1928 and a feat unmatched in the post-war era – their previous best was seventh, back in 1984 when Beth Tweddle's coach, Amanda Reddin, was still in the team. Tweddle, who secured the highest uneven bars score of the competition, admitted that the women had been motivated by the performances of their male team-mates.

"It's really inspiring," she said. "We saw them go out, they were just so chilled and loved the atmosphere. They just said to us: 'Use the crowd to the max.' I had to use it today, for some reason I was on a bit of a down day. They helped me get through and luckily my routines were good enough to help the team."

While Britain were cheered loudly each time they touched an apparatus, the evening really belonged to USA, who secured a much-anticipated gold, their first team gold since 1996, and only their second in Olympic history. Jordyn Wieber, the world champion whose failure to qualify for the individual all-around final was a seismic event for the team, responded with a stoic performance here, and her room-mate Aly Raisman, the team captain, rounded the night off with the highest scoring floor routine of the competition.

The world champions Russia, who finished in second, were reduced to tears as falls left them a dispiriting five points shy of their American counterparts, and the Romanians looked scarcely more satisfied with their bronze. Wieber, meanwhile, was transformed from the distraught creature that had been led from the arena sobbing earlier in the week.

"I feel great," she said. "I knew I had to redeem myself a little bit from my disappointment the other day but you know, in the end this was my ultimate goal, to be a part of this team and win that gold medal. So I'm really happy."

The crushing manner of their victory will also soothe the disappointment of their men's performance on Monday. The USA men had qualified in first place, but finished out of the medals in fifth; Raisman's team had to cope with even more pressure. The reigning world champions have repeatedly been described as the greatest women's team every to represent their country, by those for whom hyperbole is a national, if not an Olympic sport.

They now look sure to threaten the achievements of the so-called "Magnificent Seven" of 1996: alongside team gold, those gymnasts managed three individual medals, one of each colour. After USA's dominance here, four golds, and a place on the podium in every event, can be easily imagined.

The "Fab Five", as they have now been dubbed, glittered literally and metaphorically in their star-spangled leotards. McKayla Maroney catapulted herself towards the cheap seats in the ultimate demonstration of the Amanar vault that has acquired an almost mythical status here, scoring an almost unheard of 9.7 in execution.

But after so much talk of how vaulting would decide the final, it was the beam that proved particularly crucial, with USA excelling on an apparatus that troubled every other team. Even the defending Olympic champions China struggled, and their team contains the current beam world champion, Sui Lu. Of the rest, only Romania's Catalina Ponor, who holds European gold in the discipline, came away with a world-class score.

After China had given their usual immaculate presentation on the uneven bars, they had a minor catastrophe on floor, their best score lower than USA's worst, and their perky vaulting was too little, too late to win them a medal. The Romanians, European champions and, some said, a dark horse challenger to the USA, delighted on the floor – Diana Bulimar bouncing around like a mischievous little sister, while her older team-mate Sandra Izbasa seduced onlookers with the most fluid of movements. But their great all-around hope Larisa Iordache, who has been suffering from an injured left heel, is still far from her best and without her usual high scores Romania had to settle for bronze.

By the climax of the contest, only Russia, who have in recent years been developing a style to emulate the best of the Soviet-era artistry, could hope to challenge the American machine. They showed their class on the uneven bars, where even the efforts of Gabrielle Douglas, aka The Flying Squirrel, could not match those of the waif-like Viktoria Komova. The Russian's routine had more snap than a crocodile den and more swing than a New York speakeasy.

But while USA grew more boisterous with every piece, the Russians appeared to be having less and less fun. Minor deductions were met with grim faces and the pressure seemed to be weighing all too heavily. Both teams finished on floor. Russia performed first. When Anastasia Grishina landed on her forearm during a tumble, it was not only the 16-year-old who sobbed, but her team-mates too. When Ksenia Afanaseva fell on her very last tumbling pass, they could hardly bear fate's cruel twist.

Britain, by contrast, never looked down, even after they lost vital points early on. Jenni Pinches had slipped on the bar and was left dangling from it by her arms – she returned to her team-mates with a broad grin, and recovered beautifully on the vault. By the time she came to the floor, the crowd were roaring every twisting somersault, and the noise was so encompassing that she could barely hear her accompaniment music.

Rebecca Tunney was clearly having a blast during her two pieces, vault and floor, executing both with passion and energy. "The only target we had was to enjoy ourselves," said the 15 year old. But for the older members of the team – Tweddle, Imogen Cairns and Hannah Whelan – who missed out on the final in Beijing, their performance, finishing ahead of Italy and Japan, was proof of a well-deserved seat among the strongest gymnastics nations in the world.

Whelan's floor routine involves dancing so sassily in front of the judges she looks like she is daring them to disrespect her. "We were so disappointed in Beijing," she said. "We were gutted. We were so close there to qualify fifth so then to come sixth is just fantastic."

"We knew we weren't in contention for a medal," added Tweddle. "A lot of people might have thought can the girls do the same [as the men] but obviously we are that next level below at the minute. But who knows, in four years' time?"